IT’S MY TIME TO BE BLESSED

GENESIS 30:25-31; 43

 

          In the grand, perfect plan of the omniscient God our Savior, there is a season for everything, and a time for every purpose. In other words, everything has been allotted a limited span of time. I’m saying, every purpose has its due season. There is an appointed time for everything, and a limited opportunity for every activity under Heaven.

          The events of our life are not accidental; they are placed in due order. Each event has its own appointed season. There is this cycle of life that things happen repeatedly in our life; yet, they reappear at seasons appointed by the Almighty God.

There is a time to be born, and a time to die. There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. Just as there is time to weep, there is a time to laugh. As there is time to mourn, there is also time to dance. As there is time to get, there is likewise time to lose. There is an appointed time for everything and a limited opportunity for every activity. Therefore, I submit to you that just as God has appointed a time for barrenness in our life, He has also ordained seasons for blessings.

          There are special seasons when God satisfies His servants with everything that makes life rich and full that hurts no one else. The writer of the book of Proverbs, King Solomon, said: “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” I stopped by this morning to say that every good thing we enjoy in this material world that brings no sorrow to others is part of the blessing of God, part of the happiness of His plan. And so, our text reminds us that, “The man increased exceedingly.”

          Again, we need to take the time to realize that there are special predetermined seasons when God bestows on us. We know that our past will not rise up to condemn us because we have that sense of inner peace with God. Even the treasures of Heaven seem to be opened to us. What I’m trying to get across this morning is that God has ordained seasons of blessings, of prosperity, and of happiness for His servants. And so, our text reminds us that “The man increased exceedingly ... and had much ...”

          I wonder: Do you know what time it is? I believe Jacob would tell us: “It’s my time to be blessed!” For I believe he had come to realize that in the perfect plan of God there are seasons of blessings for the Covenant Children of God. I believe that he recalled the words of his father, Isaac, before he left home. In Genesis 28:3-4, Isaac said to Jacob: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.” It’s my time to be blessed!

          And I believe his memorable encounter with the Lord at Bethel as he wrestled with the heavenly angel came back as a reminder; in which, the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac his father told him: “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (29:15). So, no wonder Jacob tells his Uncle Laban, “Let me go.” And after analyzing that Laban’s prosperity was on account of his presence and performance, Jacob posed the question in verse 30: “And now when shall I provide for mine own house also?” I believe that in asking that question, Jacob was declaring to Laban, “It’s my time to be blessed.”

          Perhaps you might be wondering, how do I know when it’s my time to be blessed? You might say, “Bishop, I thought not too long ago it was my time to be blessed. I expected God to move in a mighty and prophetic way, but it didn’t happen. How, then, can I know with absolute certainty when it’s my time to be blessed?” Well, I’m glad you asked. If we would but quiet our hearts and still our suspicions, perhaps the Spirit of Truth just might enlighten us on when the season of our blessing is. Verses 27-31 reveal one indicator of your time of blessing. For it seems to suggest that:

          Whenever the Lord makes you master of your circumstances, it’s blessing time! One truth that leaps from verses 27 and 28 is that even the world of unsaved people know when the Lord is blessing you. There comes a point when they know that the Lord is with you! Listen to what Laban says to Jacob in verse 27: "I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." He recognized that Jacob was now the master of his circumstances. Whenever the roles are reversed, in that, the servant becomes the master and the master becomes the servant, it’s blessing time!

          Whenever you’re asked to specify what you want, to name your price, to set your own wages, it’s blessing time! I want to remind you that ordinarily in the business world, the company or the corporation has already drawn up its own terms of employment and benefits to be paid, and the employee is only asked to comply with what the employer specifies in the contract. The world generally tells you how much you will work for, how many hours you will work and what benefits, if any, it will give. And all you do is sign the dotted line with no negotiations or changes in the contract. But however, whenever you are asked to draw up your own contract, stating your terms, and the ruling party agrees to sign on to your contractual arrangements, it’s blessing time!

          Now we need to understand that this reversal of roles doesn’t happen too often in life. Some folks experience it at the beginning of a new career. Some taste it at mid-life. While still others experience it at the very end of life; it doesn’t happen that often! But I want you to know that in the perfect plan of God, a window of opportunity is given to us. And this window won’t remain open too long—just long enough for us to take advantage of the opportunity. You can’t stand at the threshold of the opening in doubt and unbelief as to what to do. It will only remain open for a limited season, and then it will close shut.

          Perhaps some of us have been presented with an opportunity for blessing and have let it close or slip away. Sometimes, we are ignorant of our time of blessing. It could be that our humility or lack of holy boldness has caused us to allow the moment to pass by un-seized. And perhaps, looking back on it now, we regret that we didn’t take advantage of it. I know in some folks’ lives, they’ve been offered an opportunity and turned it down; and now realize how foolish they were! They even tried to rationalize it by saying it wasn’t God’s will for them at the time, or they weren’t qualified to handle it. But in retrospect, they realize it was their time of blessing, and they blew it big time!

          I came by to remind us that before the Lord will allow us to master our circumstances; He must master us! Because of our unbelief and failure to trust Him, God causes us to undergo the school of servanthood and even bondage to human masters. We must serve until our pride is broken, and our confidence in ourselves and our ability to handle our own life is tossed aside. And when we come to the point in life, in which, we recognize that our loving Heavenly Father has called us to freedom in the Lord of life, it is then the process begins, in which, the roles are reversed.

          What I’m trying to say this morning is that He first masters us before He allows us to master our circumstances. When we trust Him is when He trusts us to manage our circumstances. For the Lord doesn’t always remove the bondage. Sometimes He only makes it manageable. He might not heal us of a sickness, but He will make it manageable. He might not bring us out of debt, but He will make it manageable. He might not deliver us from our enemies, but He will make them manageable. He might not remove the trouble, but He will make it manageable. He might not remove the thorn or pain, but He will make it manageable. He might not take away the misery; He’ll just make it manageable. Not until we can trust Him will He cause us to master our circumstances. That’s what Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 5:10: “after you have suffered awhile, the God of all grace make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

          He will make your circumstance manageable until He gets ready to make you master of your circumstances! But the point of this message is to remind us that there are seasons when the Lord makes us masters of our circumstances. He grants us the privilege of naming the amount of our blessing. It’s a fact that the amount of our faith is vital to the magnitude of our blessing. The Lord would have me to say that He can supply no more than our total capacity to receive. In other words, we set the amount of our blessing by our expectancy and obedient faith. Perhaps you’ll understand it this way: It is the number of vessels that we borrow that determines how much oil we shall receive. It’s the number of ditches we dig that determines the amount of water we collect. It’s the faith-word we speak that determines the magnitude of our blessing. You and I, not God, will set (to a degree) the magnitude of our blessing. Now if you want further confirmation of this principle, then study Matthew 9:27-30.

          You see, Jacob was to set the amount of His blessing. Laban said to Jacob in verse 28: “Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.” In other words, the servant became the master. Therefore, whenever you become the master of your circumstances, it’s your time to be blessed! It’s been said, “A wise master never wastes his servant’s time.” No matter what set of circumstances we receive or are faced with, God will not waste an experience if we remain obedient to Him. He will allow us to manage and master our circumstances. But there’s a second indicator of when it’s blessing time in your life, and it’s found in verses 32-42, which is this: When extremely unusual and seemingly ridiculous plans are made to work, it’s blessing time. Oh! It’s been said, “When you’re down to nothing, God is up to something!” It’s my time to be blessed!

          I must admit that this plan of Jacob seemed ridiculous. But the Bible says he takes sticks or rods of a tree, strips off the bark and then places them in the gutters of the watering troughs when the flock of sheep and goat come to drink. And the males of the flock are seized by this uncontrollable urge to copulate when they see these sticks in the gutters. And so, white female sheep and goat conceive and bare spotted offspring, black offspring and brown offspring. He just laid the rods before their eyes in the gutters and white sheep have colored lambs. Now, that sounds ridiculous; but it worked! And so, you might ask why this seemingly ridiculous plan would work? But if you just look at Chapter 31, it will show you the mastermind behind this odd strategy. For in his conversation with his wives, Rachel and Leah, Jacob tells them why it worked. He seems to be saying in verses 10 -13 that it worked because it was the Lord’s idea and the Lord’s doing. I want you to know that the Lord’s ways are strange, but they are always effective.

          They are strange to the flesh, but sane and wise to faith. To the flesh it seems ridiculous to have a man hold a stick over a wide sea. But to faith it was the means of displaying God’s awesome power on the platform of a human problem. To the flesh it seems ridiculous to have unarmed people march around the walls of a city seven days, seven times and on the seventh time to start shouting victory. But to faith it was how God used to bring down the defense of a city. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s ways are strange, but they are always effective!

          Come here, blind man, and testify to the wisdom of God’s plan! “Well, Jesus just spit on the ground, made clay of the spit, and told me to go and wash. So, I did. And I came back with better than 20/20 vision.” Come here, Moses, and testify to the wisdom of God’s plan. “Well serpents came in the camp and bit the people. They were dying and there was no cure. So, the Lord told me to make a serpent of brass and set it on a pole, and to raise that pole up in the midst of the camp. And those who just looked at the brazen serpent were healed.” God’s ways are strange, but they are always effective!

          So, go on and do whatever God has told you to do. Go ahead and put your sticks in the gutters of your problems. For I heard in the Word of God that the natural man cannot receive the things of God: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” The Bible declares, “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

          I can’t explain it. All I know is: It’s my time to be blessed! I can’t explain this strategy of taking stripped sticks and placing them in the gutters of the watering troughs. All I know is that it worked! For I am increased exceedingly and have much! And before I did it, I was struggling with little. But my little became much in the Master’s hands. All I know is that it works! I can’t explain how stripped sticks placed in the gutters before white sheep can produce colored sheep. All I know is that it worked!

          Now, if the Lord has taken you from making the circumstances manageable to mastering them, and if you are pursuing His Spirit-enlightened strategy, then it’s your time to be blessed. And if you know that it’s your time to be blessed; then let me suggest. The suggestion is this: Let’s take a blessing break. People everywhere take coffee breaks two or three times a day. But not many take time for blessing breaks. A blessing break is a brief time of praise and prayer for the purpose of quieting the heart and getting new guidance and strength from the Lord. A blessing break is a brief time in which we stop to bless the Lord.

          As I begin to close, if you know it’s your time to be blessed, take a blessing break! Just lift up holy hands and begin to bless the Lord. Let your soul just bless the Lord. If you know that He has done something for you, do something for Him. Bless His holy name. Take a blessing break and praise Him. Exalt Him! Extol Him! Magnify Him!

IT’S YOUR TIME TO BE BLESSED!